Rotary engine



No. 617,072, Paten'ted 1an. 3, |899. F. G. BATES. ROTARY ENGINE. (Application led July 16, 1897.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Shee l.

Patented 1an. 3, |899.

F. G. BATES.

ROTARY ENGINE.

(Application filed July 16, 1897.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(Nn Model.)

Noam: svc-mns cc. No1-ouwe.. wAsmNm'oN. D c.

No. 6l7,072. Patented Jan. 3, |899. F.A G. BATES.

ROTARY ENGINE. (Application filed July 16, 1897.)

(No Model.) `3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

Starts ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 617,072, dated January 3, 1899.

Application filed .Tuly 16, 1897.

[o (LH whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS G. Barns, a

A citizen of the United States, residingin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Rotary Engines, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to so construct a rotary engine as to provide for cutting off the supply of motive fluid at any desired point in the stroke or rotative period of the piston; to employ the steam expansively; to adopt the compound principle, and to substitute a rolln ing friction of the piston in the cylinder for the usual sliding or scraping friction. These objects I attain in the manner hereinafter set forth, reference being had to lthe accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a rotary engine constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same, partly in elevation; and Fig. 3 is a similar View With the moving parts in different positions.

1 represents the casing of the engine, which is of cylindrical form with expanded base 2 and upwardly-extending necks 3 and 4, the opposite ends of the casing being closed by heads 5 and 6, which carry sleeves 7 and 8, constituting the bearings for the shaft 9 of the engine.

The iixed cylindrical casing 1 of the engine has a central partition 10, which divides the interior of said casing into two cylinders, one on each side of said partition, and onV the shaft 9, in line with each of these cylinders, is an eccentric boss or projection, one of these projections being represented at 11 and the other at 12 in Fig. 1.

Upon each of the eccentric projections 11 and 12 is mounted a ball-race 13, that of the eccentric 11 being adapted for the reception of a single series of balls 14, While the ballrace mounted upon the eccentric 12 is adapted for the reception of a double series of balls 14C. The outer ball-races 'are formed by adjusting cones 15, carried by annular pistons 16, Which have laterally-expansible packing rings 17, acted upon by springs 18 and bearing against the sides of the cylinder in which the piston is contained, the inner side of each cylinder being formed by one Wall of the central partition 10 o f the casing 1 and the outer Serial No. 644,772. (No model.)

side of each cylinder being formed by the inn ner face of the cover-plate 5 or G, as shown in Fig. 1.

In each of the packing-rings 17 is a radiallyexpansible ring 19, which bears against the outer face of the annular recess formed in the annular piston 16 for the reception of said packing-ring 17, so as to form a tight joint between the packing-ring and the piston,

Projecting down into the upper portion of each of the piston-cylinders is a plug 20,which is acted upon by a spring 21, contained in the neck 3 or 4 of the casing, so as to be constantlydepressed or forced inward,and to each of these plugs 20 is pivoted a shoe 22, which has a concave inner portion adapted to bear against the periphery of the piston 1G and a convex outer portion adapted to a seat in the plug 20, part-s of the convex outer portion and concave inner portion of each shoe 22 being cut away, as shown in Fig. 2, so that While motive fluid is prevented from entering the cylinder in the rear of the shoe it can freely enter the cylinderin advance of the shoe when its flow is not otherwise obstructed.

Each shoe has a projecting cam 23, acting upon an antifriction-roller at the inner end of a rod 24E,which is suitably guided in apartition-plate 25, interposed between the upper ends of the branches 3 and f1 of the casing 1, and a valve-chest 2G, mounted upon said branches, each of these valve-chests containing a valve 27,Which is acted upon by a spring 28, tending to depress it, so as to keep the antifriction-roller of the rod 24C constantly in contact With the cam 23.

Each of the valve-chests has an inlet-port, Which can be closed by the descent of the Valve 27 and opened by the rise of said valve, the inlet-port of one chest communicating with a passage which receives its supply of motive fluid through a pipe 29 and the inletport of the other chest communicating With a passage which receives its supply of motive fluid through a pipe 30.

Each of the cylinders has tWo exhaust-passages 31 and 32 With discharge-pipes 33, each of which should be provided With a suitable valve, so that either exhaust-passage may be used as circumstances may suggest. In the engine shown in the drawings one of the cylinders and its piston is of less lateral dimen- IOO sions than the other, the engine being a compound engine intended to use as motive fluid for the larger cylinder that exhausted from the smaller cylinder, so that provision is made for connecting` the pipes 33 of the exhaustpassages 31 and 32 of said smaller cylinder with the inlet-pipe 30, communicating with that chamber of the valve-chest 26 which supplies motive fluid to the larger cylinder, eX- haust from the latter being disposed of in any convenient way.

Supposing that the engine-shaftis designed to run in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2, the eccentric projection 1l there shown is in the position of dead-center, the outer periphery of the piston 1G being in contact with the shoe 22 and with the forward termination of the neck 3 of the casing, so that no steam can enter the cylinder on the forward side of the same-that is to say, the side toward which the eccentric 11 must moveany flow of motive fluid to the rear portion of the cylinder being likewise cut off by the concave face of the shoe 22. As soon as the eccentric 11 moves slightly in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2, however, it advances the point of contact of the periphery of the piston 1G forwardly in the cylinder, so that steam will act upon said piston with a downward pressure and will tend to continue the forward movement of the eccentric, the latter thus constituting in effect the real piston, since it is this portion to which power is actually applied for rotating the shaft, the annular piston 16 simply acting after the manner of an eccentric strap or sleeve, so that its periphery rolls in contact with the inner face of the cylinder, while its laterally-expanded packings-rings 17 slide i in contact with the side Walls of said cylinder and prevent any iiow of steam inwardly past the same to the central portion of the casing 1. As the piston rotates the shoe 22 is carried inwardly by the spring-actuated plug 20, so as to bear continually upon the periphery of the piston and prevent any iiow of motive fluid to the rear portion of the cylinder, and this movement permits of the dcscent of the valve 27, as shown in Fig. 3, so that eventually the flow of motive fluid is cut off; but in order to prevent too sudden a cutting off of the flow I use the c am 23 on the shoe 22, this cam acting upon the antifriction-,roller on the stem 24 of the valve, so as to counteract in a measure the descent of the same due to the inward movement of the shoe, which as it moves inwardly also has a rocking motion due to the varying angle presented by the periphery of the piston 16. Hence by properly shaping said cam 23 the valve 27 can be held open for any desired fractional part of the stroke of the piston, and the steam can be used expansively to any desired extent in each cylinder, as well as being used in the cylinders successively for compounding purposes.

It should be understood, however, that my invention is not limited in its application to compound engines, as each of the cylinders may, if desired, have an independent supply of motive fiuid under full pressure, and there may be as many pistons as desired arranged side by side upon the same shaft and each adapted to its own cylinder.

Of course it will be understood that when the passage 3l is being used as an exhaustpassage the valve in the discharge-pipe of the passage 32 will be closed, and vice Versa, the object in using the passage 32 in addition to the passage 31 being to provide for an effective use of the motive fiuid to the fullest extent either under full pressure or by eXpansion, whereas the passage 31 provides for the escape of the motive iiuid before it has eX- pended its full energy upon the piston contained in the cylinder, with which said passage 31 communicates, this construction being more likely to .be used in compound engines than in those in which the motive fluid under full pressure is used in each cylinder.

The ball-bearings interposed between the eccentrics on the engine-shaft and the annular pistons provides for reducing to a minimum the friction due to :rotative movement, the only friction upon the pistons being that due to the sliding movement of the packingrings 17 in contact with the side walls ofthe cylinders. In order to provide for the lubrication of these ball-bearings as well as for the lubrication of the shaft-bearings in the sleeves 7, the shaft has a central oil-passage 34, which communicates through passages 35 in the eccentrics with the respective ballraces, and said passage 34 also communicates through passages 36 in the shaft and passages 37 in the sleeves 7 and 8 with passages 38 contained in bosses on the heads 5 and 6, these passages receiving lubricant from receptacles suitably mounted on said bosses.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A rotary engine in which are combined a cylinder, a shaft having an eccentric piston, a valve governing the inlet of motive fluid, a shoe bearing against the periphery of the piston and mounted so as to have a rocking motion, and a cam carried by said shoe and acting upon the stem of the inlet-valve.

2. A rotary engine in which are combined a cylinder, a shaft having an eccentric piston, a shoe bearing upon the periphery of said piston, a spring-actuated plug carrying said shoe and tending to maintain it constantly in contact with the periphery of the piston, an inletvalve, and a cam on said shoe for controlling the said valve and regulating the admission .of motive iiuid.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANCIS G. BATES.

fitnessesz WILL. A. BARR, Jos. H. KLEIN.

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